Once a housing has been molded, terminals must be inserted therein, and the housing must be mated with other housings, etc. In some circumstances, the manipulation of loose piece terminal housings is preferred. However, in other instances, the manipulation of the loose piece terminals is not preferred, and is not advantageous. This is particularly evident in instance in which robotic equipment is used to position the terminals in the housings. In such situations, it is advantageous to deliver the individual housings to the robotic equipment in the form of a continuous strip, i.e. with the housings attached to some type of carrier strip.
The use of carrier strips has facilitated the transportation and manipulation of the housings. In fact the speed of many machines can be increased with the use of carrier strips. However, there are problems associated with carrier strips. If the carrier strip is made from a different material than the housings, the housings must be positioned on the carrier strip, thereby adding another step and increasing the cost of the housings.
On the other hand, if the carrier strip is made from the same material as the housings, such that the carrier strip can be integrally molded to the housings, the additional step and the added cost, as discussed above, are eliminated. However, the removal of the carrier strip can become a problem. As the housings are separated, the integral carrier strip which joins the housings must be removed. This is normally done through a shearing process or the like. This process creates loose piece material or slugs which must be removed from the assembly machinery. Consequently, costly removal devices must be incorporated in the machine in order to insure that the slugs are removed. This adds to the complexity of the machine, and adds to the overall cost of the parts produced. It should also be noted that although these slug removal devices are provided on the machines, it is likely that not all of the slugs will be properly removed. These slugs will remain in the machine, causing the machine to break down, thereby incurring repair and delay costs.
It would therefore be beneficial to provide a carrier strip which is integrally molded to the housing, but which does not produce such loose piece material or slugs when the housings are separated from each other. This would provide the most cost effective and efficient manner in which to deliver the housings to the machinery.